The Brief: Is ‘better regulation’ getting better?

Is the European Commission’s ‘better regulation’ strategy getting, well, better?

The REFIT program, where EU laws are called in for “fitness checks”, was touted as Brussels’ response to the accusation it was drowning Europe in red tape.

Better regulation would allow existing and pending EU rules to be scrutinised, tweaked, and improved, we were told.

Unfortunately the idea got off to a rocky start. The hugely controversial withdrawal of the Circular Economy Package, and the calling in of the Birds and Habitats Directive raised fears the strategy was a ploy to destroy environmental protection rules.

The outcry overshadowed the fact the Commission had called in many more pieces of legislation, some of which needed re-tuning or dumping.

Today, the Commission said it had used REFIT to look at rules on the use of fingerprint registration and biometrics in visa applications. Its report warned that the system needs to be developed further to cope with future pressures.

This is techy stuff but highly relevant when Europe is struggling with the migration crisis. Whatever the wrongs or rights of EU migration policy, this is of real practical use to member states.

The Commission was quick to slap down any suggestion that rules such as the Dublin Regulation on asylum – which couldn’t cope with the refugee crisis – could be brought under the better regulation microscope.

That’s probably right. The Commission should not use REFIT to call whole pieces of EU law into question.

It should analyse the law, identify specific issues, and propose surgical strikes on the specific parts of EU legislation that don’t work.

Everybody loves a good plumber. One who comes in, fixes a leak and leaves with a minimum of fuss. That’s what REFIT and better regulation should aspire for.

Environment ministers in Luxembourg will debate the effort-sharing regulation, which governs the member states’ share of the EU emissions reduction target. Expect grumbling from Poland and Italy.

The European Parliament’s Dieselgate inquiry committee will on Monday and Thursday hear from Fiat/Chrysler, the German Federal Minister of Transport, and Lower Saxony’s Transport Minister, who is the very aptly named Olaf Lies

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